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We're in your docks, kidnapping your flightmaster

With the disappearance of dishonorable kills, many people are hoping for the return of innovative world PvP. As an example of "innovative world PvP," and how angry people get when it actually occurs, we present last month's Mal'Ganis Flightmaster Hostage Crisis.

Mal'Ganis is a fairly overcrowded PvP server, hosting both some of the world's best guilds (Ret, Elitist Jerks) and some of the world's best drama (the guildmaster who threatened to kill a guy who gquit after spending a month in the hospital.) One of the native Mal'Ganis guilds is Goon Squad, a giant Horde crew that was formed from readers of http://www.somethingawful.com. Goon Squad is known for pranks and odd ideas, the most well-known of which is their "I Summon People Off Cliffs" warlock PvP video.

On the night of November 4, Goon Squad snuck into Theramore and kited away the Alliance flightmaster. Soon after, they posted a ransom demand on the Mal'Ganis realm forums: If the Alliance bought out two Lightforge Belts listed for 1500g each in the neutral auction house, Goon Squad would free their hostage. If not, wrote Stuul from Goon Squad, "It would be very unfortunate if we were forced to hold him for the weekend while you try to raid." To encourage the Alliance to pay up, they also camped the Ratchet boat and kidnapped the Auberdine flight master.

A large group of Alliance joined in the fun and vowed to hunt down their beloved flightmasters rather than pay the ransom. Goon Squad soon posted that the hostages were in Bael'Dun Keep in the southern Barrens, and challenged Alliance to come and get them.

Unfortunately for the Horde, enough people complained to GMs that the incipient world PvP battle was nipped in the bud. Five hours into the hostage crisis, GMs struck down the kited flightmasters with instant Curse of Dooms, killing them and allowing Alliance to fly free in Kalimdor once more. "Your flight masters were slaughtered by a overexcited GM," Arktdnonoobs wrote. "We had no part in their deaths."